Self-cluing

Everything that the eyes fall on right from the moment one wakes up can be treated as a clue to do or learn something.

Following through on jobs and conversations day after day is necessary. What you did yesterday may just be the most important clues for doing something today. That makes writing what you did yesterday a good self-cluing technique.

It is easy to self-clue. Though it can be boring and cumbersome too, very much like self-help is.

Cost of Clarity

To see what I'll do in the coming day,
First I write what I did and didn't do in the day gone by.

(Fresh notes, all by memory,
Not by flipping back the pages of my diary.
Morning or evening, once every day.
Morning, mostly.)

Floods, Beer, Food and Petrol

River can't dictate waters. It gets flooded sometimes. And it floods the surroundings sometimes.

Bladder can only retain so much liquid, no matter how much you love your beer.

The tummy has a limit too. Beyond a point, it adds to your obesity and then to a lot many undesirable things.

You can't fill the car's petrol tank beyond the mouth of the tank.

Suppose a lot of desirable stuff cost next to nothing. How much would you fill your house or godown or storage space with?

Supplies can increase tremendously. They can impact you badly, sometimes very obviously, sometimes not very obviously.

Ever wondered what impact the smartphone (rather specifically the various forms of social media, and particularly whatsapp), that seems to have increased the number of messages you receive every minute, has had on our capacity to work with our minds and to pay attention to matters that matter?

We want water, we want beer, we want food, we want petrol, we want to hear from people... Goes without saying. How much? For what? I believe a few glances into your Cockpit Planner during the day will help you get a sense of answers to those questions. How much? For what?

A trophy for you

Meaning of atrophy, in short, if you put a query on Google:

gradually decline in effectiveness or vigour due to underuse or neglect.

Biceps atrophy. Brains atrophy. Minds atrophy too. Still don't get it? Here are a couple of pics to understand.

While biceps and brains are physical muscle-groups (and so can be represented visually), what constitutes a 'mind' is open to interpretation. Even so, it can't be difficult to see how minds can atrophy.

Since our 'work' or 'profession' or 'office' consumes so much of our waking life, and how well our mind works depends in a significant way on the 'work' we engage ourselves in, you might be able to counter mental atrophication with the Cockpit Planner. Try it.

What are the options to stare at?

After we wake up, it feels as if our eyes, since they are open wide, look at different things by default. So they stare at the newspaper by default, at the mobile screen by default, at the tea cup by default, at the mirror by default, at themselves by default, at the laptop screen filled by Facebook or Gmail by default.

If this reader's logical mind lights up, he/she would mutter, "Hold on, I choose what my eyes stare at!"

If you choose what your eyes stare at, here are the options. Not exhaustive, but you know your options better. So here's a little list of options in no particular order.

• Mirror
• Laptop Screen (Facebook Screen, Gmail Screen, Flipkart Screen et al)
• Mobile Screen (Whatsapp Screen, Facebook Screen, some weird whacko game screen et al)
• Television Screen (Cricket, Tennis, Movies, Soaps et al)
• Book
• Scene out of the window
• Dustbin
• Cockpit Planner
• Mess on the table
• Wrist Watch
• Lover's Eyes
• Tablet Screen
• Window of a shop

Days go by, eyes wander and stare at God knows what all things. Work just doesn't get over, forget any joy emerging out of it. Technology sucks the sights out of the eyes, we hardly understand what's happening. We lament over beer and think we've bared it all.

I open my Cockpit Planner. Eyes feel a little less worked up, a little less entertained. Sights get better.